She scored 111 points in two days. She’s an MVP and her team is a champion.

Boyd County’s Savannah Wheeler is wasting no time this season building her resume when it comes to the race for Miss Basketball.

One day after combining for 82 points in a pair of wins, the senior sharpshooter scored 29 points and dominated the fourth quarter to lead the Lions to a 61-59 win over Highlands in the championship game of the Traditional Bank Holiday Classic at Lexington Catholic on Sunday. In what must have been a laughably lopsided vote, she was named tournament MVP.

“Savannah just took over,” said Boyd County Coach Pete Fraley of Wheeler’s fourth-quarter heroics. “Any time I can put the ball in her hands late in a game I feel really, really good about our chances. I think she only took one shot tonight I wasn’t really happy with. She’s just such a competitor.”

For three quarters, Boyd County (10-1) struggled to solve Highlands’ full-court pressure and half-court zone. The pesky Bluebirds clearly came into Sunday’s matchup full of confidence after knocking off three top-25 teams to reach the finals, and turned that momentum into a 41-37 lead heading into the final period.

But that’s when Boyd’s superstar hit a new gear. Wheeler scored 13 of the Lions’ 24 fourth-quarter points. The Marshall commit cut the Highlands lead to 45-43 on a long three-pointer when she caught her defender sagging. After a Highlands miss on the following possession, Wheeler snatched the rebound and drove to the other end, finishing at the basket through a foul. She sank the free throw to give the Lions a one-point lead. Moments later she made a floater in the paint.

After the Bluebirds briefly regained the lead, Wheeler put Boyd ahead for good when she nailed three free throws after drawing a foul on the perimeter. Wheeler, Harley Paynter and Graci Opell each converted both ends of 1-and-1 attempts down the stretch to hold off Highlands at the wire.

Paynter’s foul shots were particularly important. With just under 30 seconds to play and Boyd leading by two, she muscled away a defensive rebound between a pair of Bluebirds and drew the contact.

“Harley just has a nose for the basketball,” Fraley said. “She’s only about 5-(foot)-6 or 5-(foot)-7, but she just gets in there and gets in position. That rebound was huge.”

Fraley said the gauntlet Boyd County ran to capture the championship could go a long way toward preparing it for another deep postseason run a year after making it to the state semifinals.

“Sometimes this tournament has more talent in it than the state tournament,” Fraley said. “We set up this year’s schedule to be as tough as we’ve ever had at Boyd County, and this was a big part of it.”

Despite the disappointing finish, Highlands Coach Jaime Richey came away from the tournament feeling bullish on the Bluebirds’ chances to turn some heads around the state. Unranked in the Herald-Leader’ preseason coaches poll, Highlands (9-2) knocked off No. 7 Lincoln County, No. 10 Butler and No. 19 Simon Kenton before falling to the fourth-ranked Lions.

“I don’t think anybody had us going to the finals,” said Richey. “I’m very proud of the grit we showed. We had three big wins in about 25 hours. That’s a big accomplishment for these girls.”

▪ Ryle, ranked No. 3 in the Herald-Leader’s preseason coaches poll, bounced back from a tough semifinal loss to Boyd County and dominated Simon Kenton, 69-48, in the third-place game.

Ryle jumped out to an 11-point lead in the first quarter and took a 39-21 advantage into halftime then cruised the rest of the way. Three Raiders scored in double figures, including Lauren Schwartz, who led all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. Schwartz hit all four of her free throws and had a game-high six assists.

Brie Crittendon had 13 points and Maddie Scherr added 12 in the win. The Raiders were dialed in on offense, shooting 52 percent from the field as a team, including a 5-for-10 clip from three-point range.

Morgan Stamper led Simon Kenton with 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting and was the only Pioneer to hit double-figure scoring.